Figure 1
From: Heritability of the melatonin synthesis variability in autism spectrum disorders
Biochemical values of molecules of the melatonin synthesis pathway. (a) Families studied in this work are divided into those with only ASD children, those with only unaffected children, and quartet families. Quartet families are then separated between those with 1) both children values within parental values, 2) both children values higher or lower than parental values, one children value within parental values and the other 3) ASD or 4) unaffected children value higher or lower, and 5) both children values outside the range of parental values but on opposite directions. Grey areas indicate pathological ranges based on previous studies in control populations (95th percentile of the controls for serotonin and NAS, 5th percentile for melatonin)10. All families are ordered according to the highest (serotonin and NAS) or lowest (AANAT, ASMT and melatonin) value observed for this family in the trait studied. (b) Quartet families selected are those for which the sibling and the two parents of the ASD proband are unaffected. For each trait monitored, the average of the two parental values was computed, and the distance from this average was measured for the two children. Distances of the ASD and the unaffected children are compared based on a Wilcoxon sign test and significance assessed after Bonferroni correction (6 tests were performed, p-values < 8.3 × 10−3 (0.05/6) were considered as significant).
